North Antrim MP Ian Paisley welcomed the police action in relation to the TalkTalk hacking attack.

“The type of attack suffered by TalkTalk once again highlights the significant danger that cybercrime poses and the impact that it can have on the community. Virtually every household will have banking or other personal information stored by companies on computer systems and should those systems be compromised it can leave people vulnerable to a range of crimes.”

On Monday, MPs said an inquiry would be launched into the cyber-attack that could have put customers’ details at risk.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey told the House of Commons the government was not against compulsory encryption for firms holding customer data.

Shares in the telecoms company fell more than 12% in Monday trading, extending its losses from last week, when news of the attack first emerged.